On Thursday (30 July), 11 homeless veterans were served eviction notices – to make way, social media users claimed, for asylum seekers.
“You have migrants who we don’t have a clue about being given everything they need,” Scott Berry, one of the residents at the Bolton residential home told the Telegraph. “We are veterans, and they don’t give a damn.”
Social media lit up with condemnation. “Typical. Can’t even support our own,” fumed one user. “Why are British veterans being made homeless to house migrants?” asked another.
There is a simple answer to this question. They aren’t.
“These claims are entirely false,” a spokesperson for Qualitas Housing, the group who run the veteran’s residential home, said. The eviction notices related to a conflict over housing benefit; asylum seekers had nothing to do with it.
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But truth aside, the asylum-seekers-versus-veterans refrain is a common lightning rod for public anger.
And that false framing doesn’t help veterans at all, said Lee Buss-Blair, former soldier and director of operations at Riverside.
“The issue of homeless veterans is a very emotive one. A lot of people value the sacrifices that service people make,” he told Big Issue.
“But sometimes I think we get used as a bit of a political football. Certain groups maybe take advantage of the fact that they know that people really care about veterans and then maybe use that to further a different agenda.”
Buss-Blair served in the British Army in the first Gulf War and then in Bosnia in the 90s; he has worked in homelessness services for 27 years and with homeless veterans for the last six years.
Homeless veterans face very real issues – but they don’t make up a disproportionate share of those sleeping rough.
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“You do see a lot, especially on social media, claims being made that 50% of rough sleepers are veterans, which I’ve never seen any data that would suggest that,” Buss-Blair says.
There is no consistent recording of veteran status across the country, so it’s “difficult to give a concrete figure”, Buss-Blair explains. “But there are two indicative data sets.”
One is the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) – the London-only count that’s considered one of the most accurate measures of rough sleeping in the UK.
According to its most recent figures, veterans account for around 1.2% of the rough sleeping population. Roughly 3.8% of the general population are ex-service people.
In 2020, 6% of respondents to a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government survey said they were veterans of the British armed forces.
“When you see inflated figures online, it normally comes with: ‘veterans over refugees,” Buss-Blair says.
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“But as a society we need to be really careful about making these value judgements when it comes to access to services. You know, saying this human life is more worthy than that human life.”
Homeless veterans face challenges, but support is available. Charities like Veterans Aid, The Royal British Legion and SSAFA offer housing help, financial aid and mental health services. The government-backed Operation Fortitude also provides referrals and support for finding accommodation.
The greatest barrier veterans face is not supply – it’s often the stigma around asking for help.
While the “vast majority” of veterans transition to civilian life “just fine”, according to Buss Blair, a “small cohort” will “self-exclude themselves from mainstream services”.
“Using the logic that if you’re not a veteran, if you haven’t done what I’ve done, if you’ve not seen what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t understand, and therefore you can’t possibly help me. And now that’s not true. That’s not the case at all. But I’ve been in that position, personally. for 14 years avoiding getting help for mental health using that exact same logic.”
How much support do asylum seekers really get?
The other half of the myth – that asylum seekers live in luxury – is also inaccurate.
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“People are left in misery, it is a life where people are left in limbo,” says Pinar Aksu, from the Maryhill Integration Network, a Glasgow-based group who work to bring refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and the settled inhabitants of Glasgow together.
“They cannot afford to live, and people are on pretty much pause… they’re not able to fulfil their skills.”
Asylum seekers in the self-catered accommodation receive financial support of £49.18 per week. For those in full-board accommodation where meals are provided, the weekly allowance is a meagre £9.95.
If you’re a pregnant mother, you get an additional £5.25 per week. A baby aged under one will get an extra £9.50, while a child aged one-to-three will get £5.25.
According to a poll conducted by advocacy organisation Asylum Matters, 91% of asylum seekers struggle to afford food on this allowance; three quarters (75%) can’t always afford the medicines that they need.
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Foreign nationals only become eligible for benefits like universal credit once they are granted indefinite leave to remain or refugee status. This can take years.
Most asylum seekers want to work and contribute – but they’re stuck in a system that prevents them from doing so. Instead, they are scapegoated in opposition to groups like veterans, Aksu said.
“A lot of people feel sad and upset… they don’t know who is in the hotel. All they know is just being fed by false information and myths, and unfortunately, it creates that hate and tension.”
“The far right comes into this, and they immediately scapegoat refugees. They say, ‘Did your local library shut? Yeah? Because there’s a hotel with refugees in it’ — which has nothing to do with the refugees.”
How much does the asylum system cost?
According to the National Audie Office, accommodation for asylum seekers is expected to cost more than £15 billion between 2019 and 2029. That’s more than three times the amount the Home Office originally estimated.
The NAO cited an “over-reliance on hotels” for this ballooning figure – fuelled by asylum backlogs, housing shortages and rising rental prices.
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In 2024/5, hotel accommodation accounted for 76% of the annual cost of asylum contracts but provided housing for just 35% of asylum seekers supported by the Home Office.
The estimated cost of shared housing per person per night is £14.41, while the equivalent cost for a night of hotel accommodation for one person is £145.
At the beginning of this year 222 hotels were still in use, accommodating 38,000 people.
Struggling Brits have “every right to be angry” about the cost of hotel asylum, right-wing firebrand Nigel Farage has said.
Such rhetoric misdirects frustration over cost at people seeking safety, says Aksu – but it’s the system that’s broken.
“The taxpayers’ money is going to the housing contractors,” she said, “while people seeking asylum are getting so little asylum support.”
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